The City of Vancouver is going through an extensive planning process to identify development and land use opportunities for the downtown viaducts and adjacent lands. As is often the case when large community planning issues hit the table, public debate has been ferocious and protectionist attitudes have emerged for these relics of the old think combustion age.

However, in a bold move to welcome community dialogue, the City of Vancouver called on the citizens of Vancouver to join forces with local and international designers in a competition to re-envision the future of the Vancouver city viaducts and surrounding lands with a goal to make Vancouver the Greenest City in the World by 2020.

Dubbed re:connect, the competition, which came to a close last Thursday, saw over 100 entries from all over the world each vying for their unique designs to be incorporated into the city’s plans.

In the end, on December 1st four Canadian submissions made the top 15 with proposals ranging from networks of pedestrian-bicycle bridges to the complete removal of the viaducts and redesign of Pacific and Expo Boulevards.

As yet, no decisions on the fate of the viaducts have been made, but one thing is certain – the debate will continue. With land scarce in the core, in order to accommodate the vast needs of our growing population, we must collectively fix our eyes firmly on the horizon and look at ways to re-imagine and re-invent our city’s valuable resources.

Kim Robertson